2015 Catch Up Part 1

Sonny Kapoo (Dev Petal) has dreams of expanding his business and opening up the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, but first he must impress a mystery reviewer whose recommendation will decide whether Sonny's expansion plans are to go ahead. 

The factor that works mostly in favour for both of the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films are the performances of the stars which consist of the oldest and best British talent (with one American). They work well together, and individually, because of the chemistry between the main players which is excellent, for example Dev Petal and Maggie Smith make for quite an amusing duo. However, the film's pace is massively uneven, some characters and more interesting than others and at a running time of two hours the film is too long. It's watchable, sometimes touching and sometimes charming, but not quite as entertaining as the first film

2.5/5

Spring is a romance film with a horror twist, inspired by the likes of American Werewolf in London and the body horror films of David Cronenberg (Spring reminded me of certain scenes from The Brood), Spring not only maintains a feeling that love is in the air but also creates a feeling of anticipation and suspense. Beautifully filmed (the Italian locations are glorious), well written (the romance is engaging to watch) and superbly acted (the chemistry between the two stars is alluring), Spring is a romance film with a twist.

3.5/5

Based on the novel The Prone Gunman by Jean-Patrick Manchette, Sean Penn stars as Jim Terrier, a assassin who finds that his dark past has caught up with him.

The Gunman received a worse beating from critics than the various goons dispatched to eliminate Sean Penn's Jim Terrierl It might be because of negative critical reviews but I was expecting The Gunman to make Taken 3 look like the Citizen Kane of action movies, instead what I watched was a rather tense and exciting action thriller in a very similar mould to the first, and best, Taken film. It's no surprise that The Gunman has a strong Taken vibe as it's directed by the same guy, Pierre Morel. Morel once again takes an aging actor and makes him a believable action star as Sean Penn certainly has a convincing physique for such a role. The action sequences are tense and exciting and not toned down for a younger audience (may explain the poor box office takings) and because of that the film has a tiny bit extra bite. The performances are exceptional (the cast list is peppered with fantastic talent) but whilst the film lacks any good female characters and really is quite predictable it's still generally tense and exciting stuff.

3.5/5